Mohammad talks to his brother via Facebook about the meals he and his comrades prepare. It’s not exactly home-cooking as they have to stop every time the bombing starts, meaning most of the dishes end up ruined. For breakfast they cook meals made of semolina and sugar: anything that doesn’t require electricity.

A media activist, in the city of Homs who stayed with the Free Syrian Army said that in FSA neighborhoods one kitchen serves three streets, feeding everyone.

All kinds of personal relationships have to take a backseat as the fighting continues. Often soldiers have not seen their families for over a year but many still feel it’s too dangerous to contact them.

“I have not seen or called my mother in six months, I don’t want her to be harassed,” said one.

“Whoever faces death on a daily basis, will be amazed at the miracles that happen. Bombs can fall right next you, but they don't go off, or buildings crumbling to pieces, yet you come out of the rubble alive,” said the activist who wished to remain anonymous.

He said the soldiers slept in turn to keep guard and when someone died only one other soldier was allowed to move the body from the hospital to the mosque to avoid more casualties.

“Every day there is a funeral, it has become part of our daily lives, although it is not easy losing a comrade, we are happy that they died as martyrs,” he said.

“Our happiest times are when we gather around a pot of tea discussing matters of the day, joking around, discussing the fate of our prisoners or singing revolutionary songs. It helps us overcome our sadness for a lost comrade.”

As for Ibrahim, a dissident soldier, who has now joined the Free Syrian Army, the best moments are when he and his fellow soldiers are able to collect ammunition, weapons or prisoners from an attack. If they are able to acquire artillery or armor they are even happier.

According to the Homsi activist, prayer is an important feature of everyday life for the FSA. But religion is not as divisive as some would like to believe:

“You see civil seculars revolutionists next to fighters, Salafists with beards next to men wearing shorts. They might have arguments and not agree on some things, but at the end of the day we have one goal in common, which is to liberate this country from the corrupt dictator”

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